The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ramsey Milholland, by Booth Tarkington

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Ramsey Milholland

Author: Booth Tarkington

Release Date: March 21, 2006 [EBook #2595]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMSEY MILHOLLAND ***

Produced by Earle Beach and David Widger

RAMSEY MILHOLLAND

by Booth Tarkington

To the Memory of Billy Miller (William Henry Harrison Miller II) 1908 -
1918 Little Patriot, Good Citizen Friend of Mankind

Chapter I

When Johnnie comes marching home again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men with the cheers, the boys with shouts,
The ladies they will all turn out,
And we'll all feel gay, when Johnnie comes marching home again!

The old man and the little boy, his grandson, sat together in the shade
of the big walnut tree in the front yard, watching the "Decoration
Day Parade," as it passed up the long street; and when the last of the
veterans was out of sight the grandfather murmured the words of the tune
that came drifting back from the now distant band at the head of the
procession.

"Yes, we'll all feel gay when Johnnie comes marching home again," he
finished, with a musing chuckle.

"Did you, Grandpa?" the boy asked.

"Did I what?"

"Did you all feel gay when the army got home?"

"It didn't get home all at once, precisely," the grandfather explained.
"When the war was over I suppose we felt relieved, more than anything
else."

"You didn't feel so gay when the war _was_, though, I guess!" the boy
ventured.

"I guess we didn't."

"Were you scared, Grandpa? Were you ever scared the Rebels would win?"

"No. We weren't ever afraid of that."

"Not any at all?"

"No. Not any at all."

"Well, weren't you ever scared yourself, Grandpa? I mean when you were
in a battle."

"Oh, yes; _then_ I was." The old man laughed. "Scared plenty!"

"I don't see why," the boy said promptly. "I wouldn't be scared in a
battle."

"Wouldn't you?"

"'Course not! Grandpa, why don't you march in the Decoration Day Parade?
Wouldn't they let you?"

"I'm not able to march an